A young couple whose baby was stillborn at 22 weeks have raised £10,000 for a charity which helps other families in a similar situation.

Stuart Muir and Nicole McMahon, from Paisley, have decided to tell their heartbreaking story to highlight Baby Loss Awareness Week which runs until Saturday.

At 7pm on that day, people around the world will light a candle to create a global wave of light in memory of children who were stillborn or died shortly after birth.

Stuart and Nicole had previously lost two babies at an early stage and on February 7 this year their daughter Esme was born at 22 weeks but died shortly after in the Royal Alexandria Hospital.

They were grateful for the level of care they received from hospital staff and for the family room and the cuddle cot, a cooling mattress that allowed baby Esme to stay with them until they were ready to say goodbye.

The couple were given a memory box by charity SiMBA which helps parents who have lost their babies too soon.

The memory box allowed Stuart and Nicole to collect a wisp of hair, hand and footprints, clay imprints and lots of photographs of them taken together.

Stuart said the box is a treasured possession in their home along with a shawl knitted by one of the SiMBA volunteers.

He said: “Nicole and I still sleep with the wee knitted shawl Esme was wrapped in.”

The couple were so grateful for the help and support they received that they decided to raise cash for improvements to the family room in the Royal Alexandria Hospital.

Stuart said: “After it happened, we felt grateful that SiMBA was there because it helped a bit with the pain.

“ We found out SiMBA planned to do up the family room in the RAH to make it more comfortable - while I was there I slept in a chair but they said they were going to get a couch.

“That inspired us to raise money to make sure other people were more comfortable.”

Between February and July this year they raised £10,000 through a range of events one of which involved 24-year-old Nicole and 15 of her friends doing a kilt-walk up Ben Lomond.

Stuart, 28, said: “I had a big beard which I was very attached to and had it shaved it off and we had a football match for family and friends when all the boys wore skirts instead of shorts.

“It was one of the best things I have ever done. The boys went the full hog and it was a really good day. We plan to make it an annual event.”

The couple also held a charity night in Linwood Sport Centre which was attended by 250 people.

Life is about to change for the brave couple as human resources officer Nicole who works for Police Scotland is now 24 weeks pregnant and they are having a new house built in Paisley.

Parts manager Stuart said: “Esme was born at 22 weeks and Nicole is now 24 weeks so it has been pretty scary but the hospital is helping us.

“Doing the charity worked also helped us and things are now going in a positive way. The new house will be ready by December and the baby should be here in January.

“We don’t intend to forget SiMBA as everyone was willing to have a chat with us and I would urge anyone in the same position as us to get in touch with the charity.”

Kelly and Alan Forbes, from Airdrie, have also raised thousands of pounds for the charity after losing their baby Noah at 41 weeks in September last year.

They were initially helped by stillbirth charity Sands but later found out about the work done by SiMBA and decided they wanted to help.

Primary teacher Kelly, 28, said: “When Noah was born we got a memory box which was really good.

“It doesn’t make it any easier but it helps in that you feel your baby is being remembered because a lot of people would dismiss what happened to us or it isn’t spoken about.”

Kelly and her ground worker husband Alan, 29, raised £4000 for SiMBA through being sponsored for the Great Scottish Walk and Run Festival in Edinburgh.

She said: “I would definitely advise parents in our situation to get in touch with the charity. It made a big difference because we would say things to them and they knew exactly what we meant.

“Everyone was so supportive and they made us realise what we were feeling was normal because sometimes we questioned whether it was right to feel the way we did.”

Noah was the couple’s first child but Kelly is pregnant again with the baby due in April.